Wood Golf Club Head and Method for Manufacturing the Same

ABSTRACT

A wood golf club head includes a club head body having an interior cavity defined by an inner surface thereof, and a reinforcing member including a rib and a pad. The rib includes two opposite sides and two opposite ends. The pad includes a connecting surface and a welding surface opposite to the connecting surface. The reinforcing member is disposed in the interior cavity of the club head body and is connected with the inner surface of the club head body by welding. The two ends of the rib abut with the inner surface of the club head body. The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing such a wood golf club head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a wood golf club head and a method for manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a high structural strength wood golf club head and a method for manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 shows a conventional method for manufacturing a wood golf club head, including preparing a club head body 9 having an interior cavity 91 defined by an inner surface 911 thereof, and a rib 92 having two opposite sides; and disposing one of the two sides of the rib 92 in the cavity. The rib 92 prevents deformation of the club head body 9 caused by an external force, such as a striking force acting upon the club head body 9 when hitting a golf ball.

The rib 92 is fixed in the interior cavity 91 by connecting one side 921 of the rib 92 with the inner surface 911 of the club head body 9 using spot welding. However, due to the small contact area of the side 921 and the inner surface 911, the heat of the welds “W” cannot be dissipated smoothly, thus causing deformation of the club head body 9 and disadvantageously decreasing the yield rate of the wood golf club head. Such a wood golf club head may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 7,803,067.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the objective of this invention to provide a wood golf club head with a reinforcing member disposed in an interior cavity of the wood golf club head. Thus, the impact caused by an external force acting upon the wood golf club head is reduced, and the structural strength of the wood golf club head is enhanced.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a wood golf club head that enhances the structural strength of a golf club head body and prevents deformation of the golf club head body caused by welding. Thus, the yield rate of the wood golf club head is maintained.

A wood golf club head according to the present invention includes a club head body having an interior cavity defined by an inner surface thereof, and a reinforcing member including a rib and a pad. The rib includes two opposite sides and two opposite ends, and the pad includes a connecting surface and a welding surface opposite to the connecting surface. The reinforcing member is disposed in the interior cavity of the club head body and is connected with the inner surface of the club head body by welding. The two ends of the rib abut with an inner surface of the club head body.

In a preferred form shown, the pad has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 mm.

In the preferred form shown, the pad has a width of 2 to 30 mm.

In the preferred form shown, the rib has a thickness of 0.1 to 3 mm.

In the preferred form shown, the pad includes a recess portion.

In the preferred form shown, the pad includes a protruding portion.

A method for manufacturing a wood golf club head according to the present invention includes preparing a rib having two opposite sides and two opposite ends, preparing a pad having a connecting surface and a welding surface opposite to the connecting surface, disposing either side of the rib on the connecting surface of the pad to form a reinforcing member, preparing a club head body having an interior cavity defined by an inner surface thereof, and disposing the reinforcing member in the interior cavity by connecting the welding surface of the reinforcing member with the inner surface of the club head body using spot welding. The two opposite sides of the rib abut with the inner surface of the club head.

The wood golf club head in the present invention includes the reinforcing member engaged with the inner surface of the club head body for reducing the impact of an external force acting upon the wood golf club head, and improving the structural strength of the wood golf club head.

Furthermore, with accordance to the method for manufacturing a wood golf club head in the present invention, by using of the pad, the heat produced during welding processes may dissipate smoothly through the pad. Thus, the deformation around the welds caused by high temperature is prevented, and the yield rate of the wood golf club head is maintained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for manufacturing a conventional wood golf club head.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a reinforcing member according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a reinforcing member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method for manufacturing a wood golf club head according to the present invention.

In the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth”, “inner”, “outer”, “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “rear” and similar terms are used hereinafter, it should be understood that these terms have reference only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings, and are utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method for manufacturing a wood golf club head according to the present invention includes disposing a reinforcing member 1 in the wood golf club head to reduce the impact of an external force acting upon the wood golf club head and to improve the structural strength of the wood golf club head.

With references to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reinforcing member 1 includes a rib 11 and a pad 12. The rib 11 is narrow and long and has two opposite sides and two opposite ends. The two opposite ends of the rib 11 may abut with an inner surface of the wood golf club head. The pad 12 is also narrow and long and has two opposite sides, a connecting surface 12 a, and a welding surface 12 b opposite to the connecting surface 12 a. One of the two sides of the rib 11 is connected with the connecting surface 12 b of the pad 12. Preferably, the pad 12 has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 mm between the connecting surface 12 a and the welding surface 12 b, and a width of 2 to 30 mm (namely, the width of the connecting surface 12 a of the pad 12). The rib 11 preferably has a thickness of 0.1 to 3 mm (on either side of the rib 11). Due to the larger width of the pad 12, the contact area between the reinforcing member 1 and the inner surface of the wood golf club head is increased.

Please refer to FIG. 2, the rib 11 may be disposed on either side of the pad 12, thus forming an L-shaped cross section of the reinforcing member 1. The rib 11 may otherwise be disposed intermediate the two sites of the pad 12 as shown in FIG. 3, forming a T-shaped cross section of the reinforcing member 1.

In addition, the rib 11 may be connected with the connecting surface 12 a of the pad 12 by welding, fastening or adhesion. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the rib 11 includes two notches 111, and the pad 12 includes two protrusions 121 aligned with and received in the two notches 111. Thus, stable engagement between the rib 11 and the pad 12 is achieved by using of the notches 111 and the protrusions 121. The engagement between the rib 11 and the pad 12 may be further enhanced by welding the rib 11 with the pad 12, as is known by one having ordinary skill in the art.

Referring to FIG. 5, the pad 12 may further include a recess portion 122 or a protruding portion 123 conforming to the shape of the wood golf club head, therefore the pad 12 fits perfectly to the inner surface of the wood golf club head.

Please refer to FIG. 6, the wood golf club head includes a club head body 2 having an interior cavity 21 defined by an inner surface 211 thereof.

The reinforcing member 1 may be disposed in the interior cavity 21 of the club head body 2 by spot welding, which forms a plurality of welds “W” on the welding surface 12 b. Thus, the reinforcing member 1 is engaged with the inner surface 211 via the welding surface 12 b (in this embodiment, the reinforcing member 1 is disposed on a bottom surface of the interior cavity 21), and both the two ends of the rib 11 abut with the inner surface 211 of the club head body 2. Since the pad 12 includes the recess portion 122 and the protruding portion 123, the pad 12 is able to fit to an uneven structure “U” of the inner surface 211. Thus, the engaging strength between the reinforcing member 1 and the club head body 2 is increased. By using of the pad 12, the heat of the welds “W” may dissipate smoothly through the welding surface 12 b during the welding processes, thus preventing the overheating from occurring at the welds “W”. Thus, deformation caused under high temperature can be avoided. Consequently, the problem of low yield rate resulting from spot welding is improved.

The reinforcing member 1 is arranged according to the steps described above to reduce the impact of an external force acting upon the wood golf club head when hitting a golf ball, thus preventing deformation of the club head body 2.

As a summary of all, the wood golf club head in the present invention includes the reinforcing member engaged with the inner surface of the club head body for reducing the impact of an external force acting upon the wood golf club head, and improving the structural strength of the wood golf club head.

Furthermore, with accordance to the method for manufacturing a wood golf club head in the present invention, by using of the pad, the heat produced during welding processes may dissipate smoothly through the pad. Thus, the deformation around the welds caused by high temperature is prevented, and the yield rate of the wood golf club head is maintained.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferable embodiments, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A wood golf club head comprising: a club head body having an interior cavity defined by an inner surface thereof; and a reinforcing member comprising a rib and a pad, wherein the rib comprises two opposite sides and two opposite ends, wherein the pad comprises a connecting surface and a welding surface opposite to the connecting surface; wherein the reinforcing member is disposed in the interior cavity of the club head body and is connected with the inner surface of the club head body by welding, and the two ends of the rib abut with an inner surface of the club head body.
 2. The wood golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 mm.
 3. The wood golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad has a width of 2 to 30 mm.
 4. The wood golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rib has a thickness of 0.1 to 3 mm.
 5. The wood golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad comprises a recess portion.
 6. The wood golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad comprises a protruding portion.
 7. A method for manufacturing a wood golf club head, comprising: preparing a rib having two opposite sides and two opposite ends; preparing a pad having a connecting surface and a welding surface opposite to the connecting surface; disposing either side of the rib on the connecting surface of the pad to form a reinforcing member; preparing a club head body having an interior cavity defined by an inner surface thereof; and disposing the reinforcing member in the interior cavity by connecting the welding surface of the reinforcing member with the inner surface of the club head body using spot welding, wherein the two opposite sides of the rib abut with the inner surface of the club head.
 8. The method for manufacturing a wood golf club head as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pad has a thickness of 1 to 5 mm.
 9. The method for manufacturing a wood golf club head as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pad has a width of 2 to 30 mm.
 10. The method for manufacturing a wood golf club head as claimed in claim 7, wherein the rib has a thickness of 0.1 to 3 mm.
 11. The method for manufacturing a wood golf club head as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pad comprises a recess portion.
 12. The method for manufacturing a wood golf club head as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pad comprises a protruding portion. 